A preliminary study of the calcite beef found in the Cretaceous Jinju Formation, Gyeongsang Basin, South Korea

Abstract:

The term “beef” refers to fibrous minerals in bedding-parallel veins, where the fibers are approximately perpendicular to the vein margins (Cobbold et al., 2013). It mostly appears within organic-rich black shale layers in sedimentary basin. Although the veins can consist of white gangue minerals, such as calcite, gypsum, or quartz, the commonest mineral in the fibers is calcite. According to the worldwide localities of calcite beef compiled by Cobbold et al (2012), they concentrated in some areas, especially around the Atlantic Ocean. However, they have been rarely reported in the western Pacific margin, except Australia and New Zealand. Recently, calcite beefs have been found in the Cretaceous Jinju Formation, Gyeongsang Basin, Korea. As far as we know, this is the first report of calcite beef in Korea. The lacustrine Jinju Formation is about 1,200 m thick, and made up mainly of lacustrine dark grey to black mudstones. In the study area, calcite beefs were commonly found in the organic-rich black shale layers. The vein thickness is anywhere between a few millimeters to maximum 3 centimeters, and their length ranges from a few centimeters to several tens of meters. The interval between successive veins is from a few centimeters to about 1 meter. Most of them occur parallel to the bedding planes, although some of them are developed along fault planes or within deformed layers. In case of relatively thick beefs, the center of veins often shows a dark grey to black central median line, defined by fine-grained calcite grains, fluid inclusion lines, or wall rock particles. Based on the orientation of fibrous calcite, they can be divided into two types: straight and sigmoidal types. The fibrous calcites are thought to have been symmetrically grown from the median lines to top and bottom of wall rock. The formation mechanism of horizontal fractures, and the formation temperature of beefs in the study area remain as a matter to be studied further.